Page 97 of The Crown of the Dark Prince
The kiss was gentle at first, nothing more than a tentative press together before I pulled away.
“You,” I whispered. “I want you.”
My hands lingered on his waist and his remained tangled in my hair and for a moment we just stayed there in that blissful meeting until all too suddenly, the tension that had been building to this moment for so long suddenly snapped.
Clay’s fingers around the back of my neck tightened and my own fisted in his shirt, grounding me in him. He pulled me back towards him, and his lips moved against mine, all at once teasing and desperate. He took my bottom lip between his teeth, not enough to hurt me but possessive enough to make it clear that he wanted me too, that he wanted to mark me in a way that no God ever could and that set my soul positively on fire. A feminine moan moved through me and Clay’s hands were suddenly under my thighs lifting me against him and I locked my ankles around his hips, savoring the feeling of his body between my legs.
He carried me to the bed, not breaking our kiss for a single second, even as I gasped when his tongue invaded my mouth, stroking into me possessively. As he sat, he angled me on top of him so that I straddled him tightly and he pressed my hips down onto his hardness, rocking me back and forth. I followed his lead, savoring the friction against my needy core.
Gods, it was all so overwhelming. The room was sweltering, heat rising steadily from Clay’s magic, and his skin was possibly burning my own, but I couldn’t help but find that all the more intoxicating. My own magic was just as unruly, flying out of me in tiny bursts that knocked over books and unlit candles.
Clay’s hands strayed up my back, igniting every nerve in my body as they trailed towards my breasts and he grasped at them over my dress, rubbing his thumbs against the hardened peaks. My body responded instantly, back arching into his grip, desperate for more, desperate for him.
“Is this alright?” He pulled away from me to ask, his eyes glowing brighter than I’d ever seen them before.
Always so thoughtful, so considerate. He didn’t want to push me too far or too fast. Clay knew this was all so new to me and even though his need for me was evident in the thick length of him that pressed against my most sensitive place, his priority was my comfortability.
Warmth surged in my heart.
This man.
I wanted to give him all I had.
I'd wanted to for so long and had never allowed myself to open my heart to him. I'd spent so many days and nights terrified of the inevitable heartbreak that I kept myself from the sheer beauty that would be the joy of ustogether.
I didn't want to fight these feelings any longer.
Never breaking eye contact, I stood and reached for the laces of my corset.
“Isthisalright?” I challenged, working the straps loose.
Clay leaned back on the bed, watching my every move with undivided attention, his gaze heated and trailing to the swell of my breasts. “Would you like some help with that, princess?”
I smirked, hands stalling on the laces. “That would be the gentlemanly thing, don’t you think?”
With a smug smile, he rose and pulled at the hem of his shirt, ripping it over his head in one clean motion and exposing the expanse of his muscled chest before coming to stand behind me and take over the job of undoing the laces.
“This will be the last thing I do tonight that will be considered gentlemanly, Miss Moore.” He pushed my hair over one shoulder, leaving a trail of tingling flesh everywhere his fingertips touched before he began pressing kisses along the line of my spine while he undid the corset and pulled it over my head.
“Oh?” I gasped, my voice breathy and uneven.
He grabbed my waist suddenly, pulling me back sharply against the firm expanse of his body, and it was like being pulled into a stone wall. “I have thought about this for so long, Thea. I’ve wondered what it would be like to find all the little places that you like to be touched. Planned out all the things I would do with you. Dreamed of what sounds you would make while I made you come for me. I intend to have all those questions answered before the sun comes up.”
Suddenly, I couldn't breathe.
His fingers traveled to my shoulders, hooking under the fabric of my dress and easing it down. He went slowly, painfully so, lingering over every inch of skin until the cotton lingered right over the tips of my hardened nipples and even though I couldn’t see him, I felt his attention as he pulled and exposed my breasts to the warm air. The rest of the dress fell shortly afterwards, leaving me in nothing but my white lace panties.
The room was silent, the only sound that of my own shuddering breath as he trailed his touch along my bare skin, leaving a wake of chilled skin in his path as he found his way to my breast and squeezed the pebbled tip.
“Oh,” I gasped, throwing my head back against his chest, which shook with gentle laughter.
I angled my head towards his, longing for the touch of his lips on mine again and he happily leaned down to meet me, tracing my bottom lip with his tongue and guiding my hips to turn so that my front pressed against the bare skin of his chest.
Gods, I loved it. I loved the feeling of his firm body like an unmoveable wall holding me in place. I loved the touch of his hands, one trailing to squeeze the muscle of my ass and the other circling the back of my neck, holding me in place while his thumb traced a maddening path up and down my pulse. And it wasn’t enough.
“I need more,” I confessed, pulling away to look up at him and committing the sight of him with wild eyes and swollen lips to memory.
His groan was the only sound he released before his mouth was on mine again, tongue dipping in and out in a tantalizing rhythm. He eased me back further so that he could crawl into the bed over me, and before I knew it, he had tucked a thick leg between my thighs, hard against the point at which they joined. My need was too strong to be understood, but instinct drove me to shamelessly rock myself against that leg, seeking the slightest bit of friction to ease the growing tension in my core.
